AMC Entertainment (AMC) Stock Falling on DOJ Document Request

AMC Entertainment (AMC) stock is down as the DOJ probes the theater industry.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of AMC Entertainment (AMC) are down by 6.26% to $27.10 in mid-morning trading on Monday, following reports that the Justice Department has requested that the movie theater company turn over documents related to an antitrust review of the theater industry.

DOJ authorities are looking into whether or not three large theater chains, AMC, Regal Entertainment (RGC), and Cinemark (CNK) have been abusing their market power by keeping smaller, independent rival theaters from receiving big name movie releases, The Hollywood Reporter says.

The DOJ has has submitted a request for "the production of documents and answers to interrogatories concerning potentially anticompetitive conduct, including film clearances and participation in certain joint ventures," AMC said, Hollywood Reporter said.

"We do not believe the company has violated federal or state antitrust laws and are cooperating with the relevant governmental authorities. However, we cannot predict the ultimate scope, duration or outcome of these investigations," AMC continued.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS (AMC) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed-some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and increase in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins and generally higher debt management risk."